00:00Congratulations. Two nominations tonight.
00:02How does it feel to get that sort of recognition?
00:05It feels good, man. It feels good to be here with my friend
00:09who kind of helped me through making this record, Jimmy Stack,
00:13and I wouldn't be here without him.
00:15And so I'm here just to celebrate my team, my record label, as much as me.
00:20It's not just putting music on the CD, it's putting the record out.
00:24So I'm here for everybody.
00:25I want to ask about the whistle. Obviously, it's very prominent.
00:28What does it stand for?
00:29It's to honor the observers in Minneapolis.
00:32You know, they blow the whistles when they see ice coming,
00:35and they're there to protect their community,
00:37and they've been doing it for weeks and 30 below.
00:40And I think that kind of work, it's really great to stop here
00:43and to celebrate music and to talk about the power of music
00:46and to recognize each other.
00:48But I think the real work is in the streets of Minneapolis right now,
00:53and I'm here to honor them as well.
00:54I mean, it's been a crazy period of time recently in America, obviously, and worldwide too.
01:02But in this past week, we saw journalists get arrested.
01:04We're seeing new things happen in our country.
01:07So I'm curious, what's your reaction to that, to the precedent that that sort of sets?
01:10Well, you know, about a week ago when Alex Brady was shot and killed in the manner that he was
01:17shot and killed,
01:18I had a really tough day.
01:19I was pretty sure I didn't have the strength to come out here to L.A. and be a part
01:23of all this.
01:24Not that there's anything wrong with it, I just didn't feel.
01:27And I just thought that maybe I started seeing the people come together in Minneapolis
01:33and organizing without any central government, and I saw them being dissident.
01:38And I thought, I just want to honor them and amplify what they're doing.
01:43And I'm here doing that. That's what I'm doing.
01:45And I think there's one thing to take away from it is that my hope has been dwindling.
01:50You know, sort of wondering if the big cash out has to happen in the world for things to rebuild
01:54from nothing.
01:55But I started to see something in the organization in Minneapolis
01:58that feels like the first hope I felt in a long time.
02:01That's great. I mean, just to pivot back to music, that's why we're here tonight.
02:05But obviously the record took a little bit of time.
02:08So what are you looking forward to musically?
02:10Do you have another record that you're thinking about making?
02:12I don't think so.
02:13I think I'm going to take a minute and just sort of look at what I'm doing.
02:16I'm working on a festival in my hometown that I used to do.
02:19We're bringing back.
02:20Just looking at different ways of bringing people together in ways that aren't maybe more surprising
02:24than ways that we usually get together at music or at events.
02:27So I'm just taking a minute.
02:29And music's always going to be there.
02:31I want to sort of recharge the batteries and make some space for some other folks.
02:36Thank you so much for chatting with me.
02:37Thank you, Steven.
02:38Pleasure.
02:39Good luck tonight.
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